Doctor submits complaints in order due to lack of health care prisons (Brussels)
© Belga
A doctor has filed a complaint with the Order of Doctors because of a series of heavy shortcomings within health care in the prison of Haren. The general practitioner, Brecht Verbrugghe, put together a 25 -page document. That message Le Soir Monday. VRT and RTBF have also been able to view the file.
Source: Belga
Today at 6:27 AM
Verbrugghe worked for months on the document in which he witnesses on problematic situations, which he labels as structural: shortcomings in the screening and treatment of cases of hepatitis C and tuberculosis, care that is avoided under the pretext of the logistics burden that she entails with the medical vocationalist. Severe and traumatic incidents.
Healthcare for prisoners must be « equivalent » to the care for people outside prisons, is the directive of the Directorate-General Penitentiary Institutions (DG EPI), but according to the doctor there is little in the house.
Read too. According to lawyers, prisoner is illegally held in a special security regime in Haren
« Working conditions are outrageous »
The medical system in prisons is under pressure, it sounds. The working conditions are outrageous, patients are often left to their own devices and care providers are powerless against an administration that focuses on punishment and control, according to the doctor.
The shortcomings in the field of health care also feed the prevailing tensions between staff and the prisoners, says Verbrugghe.
In a response, Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) emphasizes that she wants to work on a human detention. « In order to be able to offer an even better answer to the needs there are, the prison in Haren – as a pilot project – with a ‘clinical observation center’. It will be considered from this center whether prisoners need specific guidance, » said Minister Verlinden.
In addition, work is being done on the concept of the forensic detention centers (FDC) for prisoners with mental disorders that are not internees, the minister says. « In the first phase, the focus is on five hundred places in the FDCs that are still to be set up. As the plan of action is currently before us, these new centers could open the doors in 2030. »
The voices of Assisen. Ex-lawyer Pol Vandemeulebroucke about his stay in Ghent prison: « There are 250 people who should not be there by law »
